Necessities, Lacks, and Wants in Allied Health Education: An ESP Needs Analysis of English Language Learning Priorities among Pakistani Health Sciences Students

Abstract

This study examines the English language learning requirements of allied health students at Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) in Pakistan, based on the Hutchinson and Waters (1987) needs analysis model of necessities, lacks and wants. A quantitative descriptive survey approach was employed and 309 allied health students (DPT, Pharm-D, MLT, RIT, Nursing, OTT) participated in the 3rd, 5th and 7th academic semesters. Structured five-section questionnaire was used to measure perceptions of previous Functional English teaching, self-competence in professional communication, and ESP course needs and priorities, as well as language learning preferences through a 5-point Likert scale. The analysis was done through SPSS, descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha, independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were calculated. Findings indicate that the needs of students revolve around patient communication and counselling (90.0% agreement; first on the D8 checklist as rated by 64.7% of the respondents), clinical documentation and field-specific medical vocabulary. Lacks represent a medium assessment of the current Functional English classes (M = 3.46, 0893), the lowest score is given to the genuine use of material (M = 3.21). Wants are articulated by high demands on authentic clinical scenarios (M = 4.38, 89.6%), activities that are task-focused and interactive learning modalities. The instrument reliability was also good (α=.917). There were no found large differences in ESP needs in terms of gender or semester, which proves the universality of the need among the aq. The study presents empirically-based evidence regarding the design of a contextually-appropriate ESP course in allied health education at GCUF, and higher education as a public sector.        

Keywords: necessities, lacks, wants, ESP needs analysis,  allied health education, health sciences English, Pakistan, GCUF, clinical communication, Hutchinson and Waters